More than a century and a half after Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels urged the workers of the world to unite, there is still little sign of the proletariat seizing control of the means of production. But since the credit crunch erupted in 2007, plunging two-thirds of countries into recession and costing millions of people their savings and livelihoods, workers of the world have been united in anger. And from the streets of China to the rooftops of north London, from Monaco to South Korea, they are willing to show it - in strikes, protests and sometimes violence.

Worker power has been in retreat for over a decade, swept aside by laissez-faire capitalism and rampant economic growth. But today, every country that reaped a share of the benefits of globalisation is feeling the lash of what the Bank of England governor Mervyn King has called "an unprecedented and synchronised downturn ... around the world".

Many of those affected are now venting their fury in public. Across eastern Europe, there have been waves of riots by angry voters who were promised an economic miracle when their countries joined the European Union, but instead have been riding an extraordinary and unsustainable credit bubble that has now burst, leaving many in the clutches of the International Monetary Fund. In Hungary and the Czech Republic, governments have been overthrown by public protests.

But it's not just politicians who have aroused the wrath of the people: capitalists - until recently more envied than despised for their riches - are also in the firing line. Attacks on disgraced ex-RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin's home last month over the size of his pension pot are being echoed in a wave of "bossnappings" and riots across the world, as workers discover that much of the prosperity of the past few years has been illusory. Heather Stewart

Europe

"The bosses treat us as prats, so we're acting like prats," said Quentin, a worker at a threatened British-owned adhesives plant in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, during yet another French "bossnapping" incident, which ended after two days this month. Derek Sherwin, head of Scapa Europe, felt the full wrath of his employees - and improved his payoff offer before being set free.

Angered by the terms of their redundancies as firms switch production to low-cost countries in the depths of the recession, hundreds of French workers have employed this tactic in at least eight incidents this year. Ten days ago, the Moselle town of Woippy became briefly famous when more than 100 irate workers detained five managers at a plant belonging to Hewlett-Packard subsidiary FM Logistic in protest at the plant's closure. "We've had it up to here," said Bruno, a union spokesman.

Traditionally militant France approves of such tactics, according to a recent poll showing 30% in favour and only 7% against, with almost two-thirds expressing some sympathy. And French employers' organisations such as Medef are reluctant to intervene, even though bossnapping carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Even the Eiffel Tower has not been immune from the growing wave of protests: it closed for the day earlier this month in a strike over pay. Now France is bracing itself for one of the biggest demonstrations since the war, and certainly since May 1968, on 1 May - Labour Day. In a warm-up, more than 1 million people took to the streets on 31 March.

Across the Rhine, Germany is in the throes of, arguably, a worse downturn than France. But, so far, workers and their unions have been remarkably quiescent, in keeping with the years of pay restraint accepted as firms restored their competitive edge after the country entered the euro at too high a rate.

But the worm could be turning as up to 2 million are put on short-time working - a possible prelude to losing their jobs - and the country heads for 5 million unemployed or more. On 8 April, hundreds picketed Daimler's annual general meeting in Berlin in protest at pay cuts of up to 14% for 73,000 white-collar staff and shorter hours.

Most believe that a reprise of the failed revolutions of 1919, the recession-driven fascist violence of the 1930s, or even the 1968 unrest in Paris, is unlikely. But some are hedging their bets.David Gow in Brussels

United States

The giant inflatable rat is a common sight around New York city. The 20-foot blow-up rodent is the symbol of union protest and is usually found in front of a building site or office block where organised labour has been shut out.

But the rat is on the move, as protesting has become something of a national pastime in America during the past fortnight, with fist-wavers from the left and the right joining a sort of collective march for rights and justice.

The biggest protest marches came on 15 April, the deadline for filing taxes across America. Thousands of Republican and other right-wing protesters, some dressed in colonial wigs adorned with tea bags, rallied all over the country against the Wall Street bailouts and federal financial stimulus packages funded with taxpayers' money.

Their unusual garb was, of course, a reference to the Boston Tea Party in 1773, which sparked the American Revolution, when angry New Englanders dumped boxes of tea into Boston harbour in protest at taxes levied by the British.

Elsewhere though, the real victims of the recession were out in force, protesting against job cuts and other more traditional causes. Hundreds of American Airlines ground workers and mechanics rallied on 14 April to protest against bonuses being paid to executives at a time when jobs are being cut.

Thousands of local authority workers have been staging strikes too, such as the group in Camden, New Jersey, that blocked roads and bridges to protest against cuts. The police and fire department turned up when the march reached City Hall, but did not break it up. Instead, they joined in.James Doran in New York

China

About 10 million migrant workers have lost their jobs in China as the global economic crisis continues to hit the country hard. Worker protests have been spreading rapidly as the situation worsens, but the government is keen to prevent them escalating into civil unrest.

Beijing has dipped into its mountain of savings to undertake one of the biggest fiscal stimulus packages of any country in the world, in a desperate attempt to prevent millions of young people ending up on the scrapheap, but many are still showing their anger at the widespread redundancies.

Four hundred workers from a textile factory in Chongqing district blocked roads and disrupted traffic in front of their company headquarters in protests over unpaid wages. Workers at the demonstration complained they had not been paid for more than three months. Jindi, their employer, cannot afford to pay its staff because of falling demands for textiles.

Meanwhile, up to 1,000 workers from a factory in China's northern Hebei province marched in protest over job cuts, corrupt management and inadequate pay. The demonstrators set off on foot and by bicycle towards Beijing to present a petition - a traditional form of protest - but were persuaded by the local government to turn back.

In Hunan province this month, hundreds of taxi drivers went on strike over rises in the fees they have to pay each month to taxi companies. Eleven people were arrested after reports of disorder and of violence being used against some strikebreakers and their vehicles.

The dire economic situation has led some to take even more drastic action: one worker blew himself up in an office over unpaid wages of £450. Han Wushun had said he was owed the money after working for a road and bridge construction company.Kathryn Hopkins

Britain

Twenty-six days ago, car parts maker Visteon sacked 560 workers at plants in Enfield, Basildon and Belfast with less than an hour's notice. The company invited staff to come back to the premises next day to pick up their belongings; the staff took them up on that offer and have stayed there ever since.

The Enfield and Basildon workers have been forced to picket outside the factory gates after a court order was issued, but the Belfast workers remain on the roof. They say they will not move until they are issued with an adequate redundancy package, and have picketed Ford showrooms, demonstrated outside managers' homes and travelled around the country to rally support.

Similar worker occupations have been springing up all over the country as more and more businesses slash jobs. Sacked workers at Prisme Packaging in Dundee have been staging a seven-week sit-in at their former employer's office after they were made redundant without holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice or outstanding wages. Their case is slightly different to Visteon's because the Prisme workers want to reopen the business as a co-operative venture, whereas the Visteon workers want a better payoff.

There was also a seven-week-long occupation at the Waterford Crystal visitor centre in Kilbarry, Ireland, which ended last month after a plan to keep 110 full-time and up to 50 part-time jobs was accepted.

Many union leaders believe that if the Visteon occupation is successful, it may encourage others. Keith Flett, chairman of Haringey TUC, says: "I think if the [Visteon workers] actually win, we will see a big spread of this kind of thing."

As well as sit-ins, an increasing number of other worker protests have also been taking place. At the end of January, there were wildcat strikes at oil refineries in response to oil company Total bringing in foreign workers amid fears of mass job losses. More protests broke out at the end of March when unemployed construction workers staged a demonstration outside a new E.ON power station on the Isle of Grain in Kent in response to jobs going to workers from overseas.

Even bank workers have jumped on the bandwagon: in February, around 20 of them - brandishing placards bearing the slogan "Remember us? You've put our jobs at risk" - protested outside parliament as the Treasury select committee questioned four former top bankers over their role in the financial crisis.

Ciaran Naidoo at trade union Unite says: "There have been a number of protests this year and obviously it's a reference of peoples' growing insecurity and their demands for action from the government."

Unite is organising a "March for Jobs" in Birmingham on 16 May, where thousands of workers from an array of companies, including Jaguar Land Rover, are expected to demonstrate.

Back at the Prisme Packaging protest, hopes were high at the end of last week: the workers announced they had a tentative deal with an investor, were going into business for themselves, and were therefore ending their occupation. Their statement read: "We said at the beginning of this that we were little people who had refused to be little any more. We are proud of what we have achieved."Kathryn Hopkins